The threatening wind of an incoming cold front whips the knees of the shorts-wearing guys and dress-donning girls waiting outside of the Mercury Lounge. There’s a fairly long line for a Thursday; nearly two dozen people shivered as they stared at their phones or laughed in small groups. One young man proudly showed his receipt for his brand-new 21+ license, being mailed to Murray Hill from California.

Inside, the small walls of the Mercury Lounge are packed wall-to-wall. Hip types donned in the latest fashions from Buffalo Exchange chatted and drank, politely cheering and whooping as opening act Eva B. Ross took the stage.

Eva’s light and airy vocals, perfectly accompanied by keyboards and guitar, seemed to transport listeners to somewhere much brighter and warmer, with just a tinge of the cold that waited outside. One of the standout performances was “Farewell,” a new song that sounds like a dream and sings of defeat, a surrendering of yet another disappointing lover that could have been.

In between songs, Eva spoke to the crowd in an easygoing manner, with a whimsical tone and asking questions. The questioning translates to her songs, airy and multicolored and curious. Her set ended on the caramel notes of “Sweet Something”, a crowd favorite that turned into a singalong, Eva beaming all the way through.

As Eva B. Ross descended from the stage, a striped-shirt-wearing Jack Symes began to set up. With his signature mustache and baseball hat reading “#Bacherlornation”, Symes looks right at home among the rowdy crowd, who overflow the room with energy as Symes and his band start their set.

Nearly every song has a lift of electricity in the chorus that feeds the crowd, so a hum of active energy keeps the room captivated. Take “Sugar Mama”, a flirty and fun crooner that the room enthusiastically sang along with. Or the groovy “Maggie Cassidy”, the opening track of both Symes’ debut album and his set, celebrating a girl who feels right even when everyone else thinks she’s wrong. “Cool God”, the effortlessly chill track asking if God is cool, is about as fun a song about introspection and religion as a song could be.

But the point where Symes shows off his skill the most was the debut of a new ballad, “Overwhelming”, a raw and honest set of questions that quiets the otherwise-lively crowd. At its most desparate, the song asks: “If you were to live out your dreams, would I be a man, or a memory?” This track shows a glimpse of a deeper, emotional side to Symes that might not be as chill, but is simply mesmerizing.

Eva B. Ross and Jack Symes Live at Mercury Lounge

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